Public consultation on provisional recommendations on boundaries and names of constituencies for 2019 District Council Ordinary Election (with photos/video)
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The Electoral Affairs Commission today (July 23) released its provisional recommendations on the boundaries and names of the 452 proposed constituencies for the 2019 District Council (DC) Ordinary Election for public consultation. The public consultation period will last for 30 days until August 21.
"The 2019 DC Ordinary Election will be held at the end of next year. In making provisional recommendations on boundaries and names of the constituencies for public consultation, the Commission has, in accordance with the law, followed the statutory criteria and its established working principles on the basis of the projected population of Hong Kong in mid-2019," the Commission Chairman, Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, said.
The population quota for the 2019 DC Ordinary Election is 16 599 people per constituency. This is calculated by dividing the total projected population of Hong Kong in mid-2019, which is 7 502 600, by the 452 elected seats in the election.
"According to the law, the population in a constituency should not exceed or fall below the population quota by more than 25 per cent, i.e. the statutory permissible range. As such, the population in a constituency will exceed the permissible range if it falls outside the range between 12 449 and 20 749 people.
"The Commission proposes appropriate adjustment to the boundaries of those constituencies with projected population exceeding the permissible range with a view to ensuring that their projected population will fall within the statutory permissible range. The boundaries of the adjacent constituencies, even though the projected population falls within the permissible range, would also be adjusted unavoidably.
"According to the law, apart from taking into account the projected population, the Commission must also have regard to the other statutory factors, including community identities, preservation of local ties and physical features of the areas concerned," Mr Justice Fung said.
In addition, the Commission has proposed the delineation of 21 new constituencies in accordance with the subsidiary legislation passed by the Legislative Council this year in respect of the number of elected seats for the next term of the DCs.
"As in the past, in order to minimise any possible inconvenience to electors due to the boundary adjustments, the Commission has adopted the principle of affecting the least number of existing constituencies or the least number of people in drawing up the delineation proposals," Mr Justice Fung said.
In summary, the Commission has delineated a total of 21 new constituencies and proposed to adjust the boundaries of 128 existing constituencies, which are more than the 109 constituencies whose boundaries were adjusted in 2015. The reasons are mainly because there are more new constituencies, and there are more constituencies with projected population exceeding the permissible range substantially, making it necessary to adjust the boundaries of more adjacent constituencies correspondingly. Furthermore, 12 constituencies are proposed to be allowed to depart from the permissible range, which are fewer than the 24 constituencies in 2015.
"There are various options in delineating DC boundaries and there is no sole or absolute way to do so. The Commission must take all the factors into account - mainly the population figures while having regard to the other statutory factors. These factors certainly do not include political ones or any factor not relevant to the statutory requirements," Mr Justice Fung emphasised.
Proposed names for the constituencies were formed by reference to the major features, roads or residential settlements in the constituencies concerned, as well as views of the relevant District Officers.
The Commission will submit its final recommendations to the Chief Executive after taking into account representations received during the consultation period.
Written representations on the proposed boundaries and names may be submitted by post to the Commission's Secretariat (10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai), by fax (2511 1682) or by email (eacenq@reo.gov.hk) by August 21. Late submissions will not be considered.
Two public forums to listen to the views on any constituency will be held by the Commission from 7pm to 9.30pm on August 1 and August 3 respectively at Lai Chi Kok Community Hall, 863 Lai Chi Kok Road, Sham Shui Po, and Lung Hang Estate Community Centre, Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin. Members of the public are welcome to express their views at any one of the forums.
Members of the public can visit the Commission's website (www.eac.gov.hk), Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of all district offices, the Registration and Electoral Office, post offices, management offices of public housing estates, and major and district public libraries to study the maps and descriptions of the proposed boundaries of individual constituencies. For enquiries, please call 2827 1269.
Ends/Monday, July 23, 2018
Issued at HKT 19:17
Issued at HKT 19:17
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Press Conference on Provisional Recommendations on Boundaries and Names of District Council Constituencies for the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election